Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an aircraft, an aircraft engine, and an engine nacelle that is opened and closed for maintenance of the engine of the aircraft.
Description of the Related Art
An engine nacelle of an aircraft is divided into two parts along an axis line, and an airframe side cowl member and an outer side cowl member are respectively opened to both sides through hinges that are attached to an engine pylon. Accessories and various gauges that are provided in the engine are maintained while the cowl members are supported in the opened state. Thereafter, rods supporting the cowl members are removed to cause the cowl members to pivot downward. Further, the airframe side cowl member and the outer side cowl member that have moved downward by own weight are brought into contact with each other by a latch handle, and latch members provided in the respective cowl members are locked with each other to lock the cowl members in a closed state.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,824,175 discloses a technology that addresses forgetting of locking of the engine nacelle.
The engine nacelle described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,824,175 includes a cover that covers the latch handle. The latch handle is operated to lock or unlock the cowl member. The cover covers a front surface of the engine nacelle within a wide range over a region in which a plurality of latch handles are disposed at intervals in the axis line direction of the engine nacelle, and the cover is liftable with respect to the engine nacelle. After the latch handles are each operated to lock the cowl member, the cover is laid down toward the engine nacelle. The cover is locked to the engine nacelle while covering the latch handles.
The configuration of U.S. Pat. No. 6,824,175 allows a maintenance crew to notice that the locking operation of the cowl member has not been appropriately performed, based on the cover that serves as an indicator suspended from the engine nacelle.
In contrast, it has been known that a proximal sensor electrically detects a proximity state of the cowl members and a controller that receives a value detected by the proximal sensor determines whether or not the cowl members are locked. When the cowl members are not locked, a warning that indicates the unlocked state of the cowl members is displayed on a device in a cockpit, based on a signal that is transmitted from the controller to a system that manages information necessary for flight.
The cover having a large area as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,824,175 may not be noticed even though the cover is suspended from the engine nacelle. The maintenance crew may not notice the suspended cover and may not grasp the unlocked state of the cowl member unless the maintenance crew directs attention to the cover located below the engine nacelle.
In contrast, when the proximity state of the cowl members is electrically detected and the warning is displayed on the device in the cockpit to call crews' attention, it is necessary to provide redundancy to a system from detection of the proximity state, determination of the locked state, and display of the warning. It is necessary to design and develop a unit including a controller, wirings, and the like in consideration of such redundancy, and to modify a part of an existing system in some cases. This necessitates much cost and time.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to securely grasp the unlocked state of the cowl member while suppressing cost and time necessary for measures against forgetting of locking of the cowl member.